Drug gang news is getting worse

By Bruce Davidson :
March 15, 2010

The weekend killings of an American employee of the U.S. consulate and her husband in Juárez are startling evidence showing drug gang violence is a serious problem that does not belong to Mexico alone.

Authorities told the Associated Press that hit men for the Juárez drug cartel are suspected in the Saturday shootings of the couple as well as the slaying of a Mexican consulate employee’s husband.

The killing has spread far beyond gang-on-gang incidents.

And the boldness of the drug cartels who are now willing to target U.S. government employees should be a wake-up call for everyone.

The increasingly dangerous drug cartels are a threat to peaceful society.

Saturday’s slayings were the latest in a wave of alarming developments.

In an earlier reminder that the border is turning into a war zone, a Mexican military helicopter was spotted flying over Zapata County.

U.S. officials were right to downplay that episode in which, the Express-News reported, the helicopter lingered about 20 minutes over a Texas neighborhood near Falcon Lake in Zapata County.

While the required advance coordination never occurred, a U.S. official told the newspaper that the situation had been checked out and, “There really isn’t that much to it.”

But the incident illustrated the situation Mexican authorities face in the war against drug cartels. The helicopter appeared to be conducting a surveillance operation.

Plenty more troubling news is documented by the Express-News regularly.

Drug violence has escalated in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas during the past month. That led to Texas Department of Public Safety warnings that urged Spring Breakers not to go to Mexican border towns.

The recent fighting apparently involves the Gulf Cartel and its former enforcers, the Zetas.

The Mexican government has been unable to put a lid on the drug killings, even with military involvement.

Numerous Mexican journalists have been kidnapped recently, leading to self-censorship by some Mexican news outlets. In response, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement last week urging the Mexican government to probe the kidnappings.

The vast majority of the violence has been south of the border, but the nasty, corrosive impact of the drug war is moving north.

The E-N reported that a U.S. Senate subcommittee heard testimony Thursday that corruption cases involving U.S. Homeland Security personnel as well as state and local law enforcement agents along the border are increasing.

An FBI official informed lawmakers that 400 public corruption cases involving American law enforcement personnel in the Southwest have been launched in the last two years.